Category Archives: Bee Basics

Bee Basics, Equipment

Beekeeping Equipment

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Be aware – taking up beekeeping is not cheap.

Do not be seduced by those apparently serene beekeepers who need no protective clothing and go at it in their sandals and an old onion bag. Bees are easily irritated as a rule, in fact their only tranquil moments are experienced as eggs.

In addition:

  • They are horribly attracted to the human foot;
  • They know where your eyes are;
  • They are never, ever hampered by emotions.

So trust me – if you are seriously thinking of taking up beekeeping, get proper equipment and build your confidence inside it. Continue reading Beekeeping Equipment →

Bee Basics, Things to do in December, Things to do in February, Things to do in January

Bee Basics – Apiary Site

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For anybody thinking about getting bees, an important consideration is – where to put them?

There is no perfect site for bees but there are points to consider – some affect the summering and some affect the wintering. It’s all swings and roundabouts (or snakes and ladders) with bees. Continue reading Bee Basics – Apiary Site →

Bee Basics

Bee Basics – Pheromones

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Pheromones are a family of small, volatile chemicals commonly employed in the insect world as a means of communication; they are chemicals which elicit specific responses and have a large role in colony cohesion/dynamics. The purpose and actions of pheromones within a community of social insects could be said to be analogous to those of hormones within the body of a single organism.

The number of pheromones active within a honeybee colony is unknown but here are some of them:

Queen substance: A cocktail of substances including 9 oxydecenoic acid and 9 hydroxydecenoic acid which are the main ingredients. Queen substance licked from the queen is passed around the hive by workers. It has a calming effect and prevents the building of queen cells. If the dosage of queen substance per bee is reduced below a certain level the inhibition is lifted, the bees become agitated and the production of queen cells will commence. Here are two scenarios when this will happen:

  1. Queen substance production is reduced such as in the aging queen;
  2. A colony builds up very strong and very quickly.

In the former, supersedure will commence. In the latter – swarming is initiated.

One of the ingredients of queen substance – 9 oxydecenoic acid attracts drones to the young queen who is out to get mated.

9 oxydecenoic acid will also hold a swarm together when it is hung up on a bush – it tells them ‘Mother is with us’. If ‘Mother’ is not with them they will go home.

Heptanone: Not clear what this is for. It is released from the mandibular glands of worker bees and it attracts the attention of other bees. Could be some sort of marker (‘hey, come and look at this thing!’) or an alarm pheromone. It has been found to have anasthetic effects on wax moth…

Isopentylacetate: Released when a bee stings and causes other bees to sting the same spot. I hate that.

Nasonov gland pheromone: Released from the Nasonov glands of worker bee – the visible white dot in the open tail of fanning bees. Carries a ‘come and join us’ message to disturbed bees.

Drone phermone: from drones and attracts other drones to drone congregation areas

Brood pheromone: from larvae and pupae – prevents laying workers

Click here for more about the life cycle of honey bees and how it is governed by pheromones

Click here for more on Supersedure

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Bee Basics, Forage, Honey

Bee Flora

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Here is a table showing the flowering periods and pollen load colours of some of the more important  plants – click it for the bigger picture. Mahonia, snowdrops and hazel are important as early sources of fresh pollen, as is willow. However, in an exceptional spring there could be a honey flow from the willow; something which would never occur with the other three. Especially the latter as it is wind pollinated and as such never bears nectar.

Bee Flora Table

Here are some links to photo’s of pollen loads for the various flowers:

Or click these links for more detailed month by month tables:

Click here for Bee Flowers – March

Click here for Bee Flowers – April

Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2014. All Rights Reserved.

 

Bee Basics, Things to do in December, Things to do in January

Winter Feeding of Bees

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This autumn was a good one for the bees and they seem to have brought in plenty of ivy honey and the hives are very heavy now – at the end of December 2013.

However this is not always the case and December and January are months when the beekeeper needs to keep an eye on the winter stores. It is not possible to feed bees with syrup in the winter because they are simply unable to ripen it so instead if the hives seem light and the bees are clustered close to the top of the frames it will do no harm to put a lump of fondant over the feed hole in the crown board and cover it with a sheet of plastic to stop it from going hard.

If they seem on the edge of extinction, fondant should be placed directly onto the bees. You need to use your imagination and/or ingenuity here if the bees are not directly beneath a feed hole. It may be possible to turn the crownboard so that they are, or fondant can be flattened to a patty which can be placed under the crownboard.

Alternative place an eke on the brood box, then a cake of fondant covered in plastic is placed directly on the bees and the eke is filled up with old jumpers, blankets or sacking and the crownboard is put onto the eke.

Swienty are now selling 15kg blocks of Apifondant which can be set directly over the bees inside an eke as described above. Click here for details of those things

In February you might like to consider giving the bees a pollen supplement such as Neopoll which will give them an early boost. This is especially useful if you are considering taking bees to the oilseed rape as it should prompt the colony into early build-up. Click here for details of Neopoll from Swienty.

You can feed a light 1:1 (1kg:1litre or 1lb:1pint) sugar syrup from St.Patrick’s day onwards using a contact feeder. If you are using a specially prepared beefeed such as Ambrosia you could water this down with a little water for spring feeding.

Click here for how to prepare Wintering Bees

Click here for Michaelmas, bees and wintering

Click here for Which Feeder

Click here for how to feed a wintering apidea

Click here for mid-winter feeding of bees

Click here for mid-winter oxalic acid Varroa treatment

Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2015.  All Rights Reserved.